2021-10-02 United Arab Emirates: Oct 12 - Yas Marina Circuit and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

We headed out much too early today for our trip into Abu Dhabi. Along the route we saw more camels...

and the usual large number of mosques.

There was also a pretty significant wall that ran for miles. Shakib says the walls are used to wall off large tracts of land for private use by the various sheikhs. Lots of money there.

Once in Abu Dhabi we pulled into the Yas Marina Circuit. Not too sure how this ended up on our itinerary as it is a Formula 1 raceway and we really aren’t into either cars or racing. But it was reasonably interesting.

These views are from the suite of viewing rooms and balcony that is for the exclusive use of the President of Abu Dhabi and his guests. Normally the tours don't go there, but one of the tourist had mobility problems and could not climb the steps to a couple of the view points, so the tour added this stop.

We had a nice afternoon rest at the hotel and then in the late afternoon we headed into Abu Dhabi. Along the way we saw a most interesting bridge.

Our destination is the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque of Abu Dhabi, the largest mosque in the Emirates.

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More Grand Mosque
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It has 82 domes,

more than 1,000 columns,

and 24-carat gold gilded chandeliers.

It also contains the world’s largest hand-knotted carpet – at 60,546 square feet that took more than a thousand weavers nearly two years to complete (it weighs 35 tons).

We parked in the underground parking and headed in, only to discover that there is a large mall under the mosque. How strange…with several US fast food restaurants (of course) along with all the clothing and such.

Mary had to buy a long robe with hood to cover her head. They used to loan them out (or rent them) but don’t now due to the pandemic.

The mosque is really beautiful with a mostly white marble exterior with gold accents. There is an extremely large courtyard in the front surrounded by covered walkways. Massive mosaic designs can be seen on the floor of the courtyard, some interior floors, and on columns and walls throughout the mosque. Incredible workmanship.